Winner-take-all Basketball Offers Million Dollar Prize

11 Mar 2015 | sigadmin

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There has been talk in recent months that the International Olympic Committee might add three on three basketball as a discipline under traditional basketball in the coming months as the Olympics tries to broaden its appeal to a younger audience, and three on three is both easy to stage and fast paced.

However what if you did a form of pickup or knockout basketball, where countries played off against each other and it ended up with a winner-take-all format for the gold.

If the IOC is looking for a format for such an idea they can ask American Jon Mugar, who last week announced his winner take all five on five event, cleverly titled: The Basketball Tournament, which will partner with ESPN and offer a winner take all prize of a cool $1 million.

It is a survival of the fittest event, which will have 96 teams in its second year, with the eventual winner playing through the field to an early August final in New York after regional events in US cities like Los Angeles and Chicago. The entry is free, anyone can put in a team, with the hook being you must use social media to garner likes and interest during a period from 1st April to 1st June to be considered for the field.

The event launched in 2014 with 32 teams and a $500,000 payoff, with a team made up of elite players from Notre Dame University (many of whom played professionally in FIBA-sanctioned events throughout Europe and Asia) winning the title and the money.

Mugar and his advisors, which include longtime television executive Len DeLuca, former head of Anheuser Busch sports and entertainment Tony Ponturo, and longtime professional sports executive Andy Dolich, came up with a bigger and better plan for 2015, and got the literal buy-in from ESPN to make the event a reality, which will draw professional players from all over the world, as well as elite former collegiate players.

“The door is wide open for anyone out there to create a team and play for it,” said Mugar in a release last week. “Last year we were able to prove the concept of a high stakes, democratic tournament, with an exceptionally skilled collection of players and an entertaining event. Our agreement with ESPN, along with our market expansion, further validates that we are on the track to grow even beyond what we had hoped for in year two. “

“We have been impressed with the work Jon and his team have done in growing the event in only one year,” added Burke Magnus, senior vice president, programming acquisitions, ESPN. “It’s unique programming that will appeal to a lot of fans.”

The officials feel that in addition to the strong US appeal, the possibility exists for some of the world’s best players, or some nations themselves, to field teams either this year of in 2016 as well. There are no formal restrictions on entry although amateur players could jeopardize their eligibility should they enter.

The other intriguing value is that if such a format works for basketball, it could also be expanded to other team sports globally, giving a chance for the most elite athletes to mix it up with those who may have never had a chance at elite success in a similar format to the FA Cup.

The difference here is that everyone, literally, has a million reasons to try and none not to. Let “The Hunger Games” of basketball begin.